Furniture.



I PATENTED NOV. 7, 1905.

'H. L. ANDREWS & D. SGHUSTEK.

FURNITURE. APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1904.

mgmumm H EZ%TS SHEET No- 803,961. PATENTED NOV. 7, 1905. H. L. ANDREWS &D. SCHUSTEK.

FURNITURE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 30,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

" NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT L. ANDREWS AND DANIEL SCHUSTEK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAIDSCHUSTEK ASSIGNOR'TO SAID ANDREWS.

FURNITURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. '7', 1905.

Application filed ly 30, 1904. Serial No. 218,914.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HERBERT L. ANDREWS and DANIEL SoHUs'rEK, residentsof Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Furniture, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in furniture, and moreparticularly to chairs, tables, or stools of that type which are madeprincipally of rod metal or wire.

Among the salient objects of the present invention are to providearticles of furniture which can be easily and quickly assembled orunassembled without the use of any tools whatsoever and which when.assembled are rigid and strong, as well as neat in appearance;

to provide a brace member adapted to be connected with all of the legsof such chair, table, or stool when assembled to hold the same rigidlyin normal position; to provide an improved form of back with means forattaching it to the structure to form a chair; to provide improvementsin the means of interlocking the members in assembled position, and ingeneral to provide a construction which is simple, neat, durable, andeconomical.

To the above ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafterdescribed and will be readily understood from the following description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 isan elevation of the invention as embodied in a'table or stool, theconstruction in each case being substantially the same. Fig. 2 is a rearelevation of the invention as applied to a chair. Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of a back. Fig. 1 is a sectional view showing detailconstruction at a point where one arm of the back interlocks with onearm of the leg in the seat. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a brace member.Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view looking down upon Fig. 1 from one of thelegs. Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 7 7 of Fig.6.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates as a whole a seat member ortable-top, as the case may be, which is circular in the presentconstruction and comprises a rim 11, having a downwardlydepending flange12, slightly curved in cross-section and terminating at its lower edgein a bead-like stifi'ening portion 13. A seat-board or table-top 14:,preferably of wood, is formed to fit into the groove of the rim 11, asindicated in Figs. 4 and 7, where it is secured in any desirable mannerto form a tight and close-fitting joint. At intervals around saiddepending flange 12 adjacent said stiffening portion 13, at the loweredge thereof, are holes 15, arranged in pairs.

16 designates the legs, each composed in the present construction of asingle piece of rod metal doubled upon itself and twisted for a part ofits length to form the foot and lower portion of the leg, as clearlyindicated in Fig. 1, the ends or upper portions thereof being carriedupwardly and forming a V-shaped portion, the end of each arm terminatingin a short S-likeorogeecurve. (Clearlyindicated in Fig. 7.) These twoends are passed through a pair of the holes 15 in the flange 12 from theinside thereof and the leg then straightened to a position substantiallyat right angles with the plane of the seat or table-top,whereupon thecurved ends of the legs fit snugly around the curved portion of theflange 12 and into the corner or angle formed between the rim 11 and theflange 12, one portion of the ogee curve in said leg passing around theinside of the stiffening-bead 13 in the manner clearly indicated in Fig.7. The leg cannot be moved outwardly at its lower end after the upperends fully engage against the flange immediately beneath the rim 11, aswill be clearly understood from the drawings.

In order to prevent the legs from moving inwardly at their lower ends, abrace member 16' is provided. Said brace member (shown in Fig. 5)comprises a pair of rod members twisted together at their middleportions in such a manner as to rigidly lock them against relativemovement one upon the other, a double twist being necessary to lock themagainst movement relative to each other and allow the opposite ends ofeach rod to project at opposite sides of the twist and in diametricallyopposite directions, as is the case in the present construction.

The ends of the rods forming the brace member 16 are preferably loopedback upon themselves a short distance and provided on opposite sideswith grooves or inclents 17, which extend at right angles to the generalplane of the brace 16. The looping back of the ends aflfords a double ormuch greater bearing than would be afforded by the straight end of therod. The four arms of the brace member extend to the four legs of thestructure, and the ends thereof are pressed downwardly between the armsof the V-shaped portion of the legs with the grooves in the arms restingbetween the arms of the legs upon the twisted portions thereof, thuspreventing the legs from lateral movement and holding them rigidly innormal position.

Referring to Figs. 2, 3, and 4, wherein a back is applied to thestructurejust described, making a complete chair thereof, said back iscomposed in the present construction of a couple of lengths of rod metal17 and 18, twisted together, as at 19. The ends above said twistedportion are arched over and turned downwardly to the seat 10 to form theouter pair of arms of said back, while the ends below said twistedportion are diverged outwardly and downwardly to the seat 10 and formthe inner or proximate pair of arms. Any suitable or desirable designmay be adopted in forming the back, and any number of twists or coilsmay be formed in said arms intermediate their ends. It will be noticed,however, by reference to Fig. 3 that the outer arms are set fartheraround on the seat than are the inner or proximate arms, thus affordinga better and stronger brace effect for said back.

A woven-wire fabric 20, provided with a rim or frame 21, is mounted uponsaid back by means of the clips 22, engaging the outer arms of said backand the inner arms thereof in such manner that the middle or mainportion of the wire fabric is free from contact with the back-arms,whereby a cushion or hammock effect is secured, as will be clearlyunderstood by reference to Fig. 3. In order to attach said back to saidseat, the ends of the arms are made straight and passed downwardlythrough suitable apertures in the rim 11 adjacent the upper ends of saidlegs and through the lower portion of the flange 12, so that thestraight portions (designated 23) rest between the bead 13 and the upperarms of said V-shaped portions of the legs 16, as indicated at 24 inFigs. 2 and 4. The straight portions 23 are provided with grooves orsockets on their sides adjacent the legs, which fit around said legswhen the parts are in place, thus preventing the back-arms from beingwithdrawn until the legs are released and moved inwardly out ofengagement there with. It will thus be seen that by a series ofinterfitting and interlocking engagements between the back and the legsthrough the rim 11 and the flange l2 and between the legs and the brace16 the parts are rigidly locked together as a strong, neat, and durablechair. Thelegs, it will be understood, are prevented from beingwithdrawn from the flange by reason of the cross-sectional curve in theflange 12, around which the ends of said legs fit, whereby the lowerends of said legs must be moved inwardly before the legs can bewithdrawn therefrom.

The joint in the rim 11 and flange 12 is formed by overlapping theflange in the manner indicated in Fig. 2. the rim 11 coming together byan end-to-end engagement, as indicated at 25. The two ends of theoverlapped flange are held together by means of a bolt 26. It will thusbe seen that the seat-board or table-top may be taken out of the rim 11by simply removing the bolt 26.

While we have herein shown and described what we consider the preferableconstruction and. arrangement, it is obvious that modifications andalterations can be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and we do not, therefore, limit the invention to thesedetails of construction and arrangement except in so far as they aremade the subjectmatter of specific claims.

We claim 1. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body, anupright flange thereon. said flange being provided withleg-receiv'ingapertures, legs having their upper ends passed through theapertures of said flange and hearing at their inserted ends against theflange, and means holding said legs against movement relatively to theflange, for the purpose described.

2. In an article of furniture. the combination of a body, an uprightflange extending around said body, said flange being provided withleg-receiving apertures, legs having their upper ends passed through theflange-apertures and the extreme end portions resting against theoutside of the flange and a brace extending between and engaging theseveral legs at points below and removed from the flange.

3. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body, an uprightflange extending around said body, said flange being providedwithleg-receiving apertures, legs having their upper ends passed throughthe flange-apertures and the extreme end portions resting against theoutside of the flange and a brace extending between and engaging theseveral legs at points below and removed from the flange, theinterengaging portions of the legs and flange being interfitted, wherebysaid parts are interlocked while held in normal position, but may beseparated when the legs are oscillated out of their normal position.

4. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body provided with arim having a downwardly-dependingflange, said flange being provided withleg-receiving apertures, legs having their upper ends passed throughsaidapertures and resting against said rim, said legs being interlockedwith said flange when in their normal position, and a brace holding saidlegs in normal position.

5. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body having adownwardly-depending flange provided with leg-receiving apertures, legswith bent upper ends adapted to be passed through said apertures fromthe inside of said flange and resting against the outside thereof whenin normal position, means locking said legs against being withdrawn whenin their normal position, and a brace member holding said legs in normalposition.

6. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body having adownwardly-depending flange provided with leg-receiving apertures, legswith upper ends adapted to be passed through said flange-apertures fromthe inside thereof and interlocked with the outside of said flange bythe outward movement of the lower portion of said legs, and a bracedetachably connected with said legs and holding the same in saidinterlocked position, for the purpose described.

7. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body having a rimprovided with a downwardlydepending flange portion, said flange portionbeing provided with leg-receiving apertures, legs having their upperends adapted to be passed through said apertures from the inside of saidflange and interlocked therewith by an interfltting engagement in theangle formed between said rim and said flange, said engagement beingcaused by the outward movement of the lower portion of said legs, and abrace member detachabl y connected with said legs intermediate theirends, for the purpose described.

8. In an article of furniture, the combination of a body having a rimprovided with a downwardly depending flange portion, slightly curred incross-section and having therein leg-receiving apertures, legs adaptedto be passed through said apertures from the inside of said flange andthe extreme end brought around the curve in said flange member and intothe angle between said rim and flange member by the outward movement ofy the lower portion of said legs, and a brace member detachablyconnected with said legs intermediate their ends and holding them insuch interlocked position, substantially as described.

9. An article of furniture comprising in combination a seat member ortable-top provided with a rim having a downwardly -depending flange,said flange being slightly curved in cross-section and provided withapertures arranged in pairs, a plurality of leg members of twisted rodmetal and having forked upper ends, said ends being bent to conform tosaid flange member when passed through said apertures and the lowerportions of said legs moved outwardly to cause an interlocking of saidlegs with said flange, and

a brace having an arm for each leg and detachably connected therewith inthe manner described to hold said legs in interlocked position.

10. In an article of furniture, a plurality of leg members each providedwith a yielding brace-receiving socket, a brace member comprising twolengths of rod metal twisted together at their middles into lockedengagement with each other with their ends projected to the leg members,the ends of said brace member each provided with a reduced,

neck-like portion adapted to be pressed into said yielding socket,whereby the leg members are rigidly held in normal positions.

11. In an article of furniture, a plurality of leg members pivotallyattached and each provided with a yielding brace-receiving socket, adetachable brace member for holding said leg members in normalpositions, aid brace member comprising two lengths of rod metal twistedtogether at their middles into locked engagement with each other withtheir ends projected to the leg members and folded back upon each otherto make double thickness and each provided at diametrically oppositesides with grooves extending transversely thereof to form a reduced,neck-like portion adapted to be pressed into said yielding socket,substantially as described.

12. In an article of furniture, a seatmember provided with a rim and adownwardlydepending flange having a stiffening-bead on its lower edge,said rim and said flange being provided with registering apertures, arod-metal back provided with straight attacl ing ends adapted to fitinto said registering apertures, leg members attached to said flange andinterlocked with the ends of said back, whereby to prevent thewithdrawal of the latter from said apertures, and means for holding saidlegs in such interlocked position, substantially as described.

13. In a chair, a back member comprising a skeleton frame of rod metal,the side or outer members and the middle member of which lie in twodifferent planes and converge at their upper portions, a woven-wirefabric member provided with a metal rim mounted upon the front of saidskeleton frame, the lower edge of said fabric member being carriedbackwardly between the side members and secured to the middle member,substantially as described.

14;. In an article of furniture, a seat member provided with adownwardly-depending flange, a back having straight stud-like attachingportions engaging said flange, legs engaging said flange and interlockedwith said stud-like attaching portions, and a brace member holding saidlegs in interlocked position, for the purpose described.

15. In an article of furniture, a seat member provided with a flangeportion having legreceiving apertures therein with back-receivininterlocked position, for the purpose described.

HERBERT L. ANDREWS. DANIEL SCHUSTEK.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK C. GOODWIN, WILLIAM R. LITZENBERG.

